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nAfter getting rid of all the different signs that pointed towards a trade with the Parasite, Nick left the warehouse again and dealt with Horua.

nBy now, Nick had become completely used to dealing with Horua, and he had found his rhythm.

nSince it had been three months, Horua had grown by quite a bit. Nick even needed to buy him some new clothes. 𝑖𝑟𝘦𝒶.𝘤𝑜𝘮

nSadly, Horua had not yet shown any signs of getting better.

nA couple of days ago, Nick had taken Jenny to Horua to see if she could do something with the ability she had gotten from the Dreamer.

nWhen Jenny had seen how old Horua was, she had been extremely shocked.

nNick had always seemed like an extremely competent and friendly boss.

nBut now, she was confronted with the fact that Nick had essentially thrown a child in front of the Dreamer.

nThis didn’t fit Jenny’s image of Nick at all.

nNevertheless, she couldn’t ignore the proof right in front of her.

nAfter Horua went to sleep, Jenny tried to view his dreams.

nBut there weren’t any.

nAccording to Jenny, Horua simply wasn’t dreaming at all.

nThe two of them asked Wyntor about this the next day. After all, Wyntor had been taught a lot by the tutors his family had hired.

nWyntor said that, normally, dreaming was simply the brain of a person reorganizing the memories they had written down that day, which was also why almost all dreams were somehow related to some thoughts one had had during that day.

nThe fact that Horua wasn’t dreaming actually wasn’t very surprising.

nAfter all, Horua didn’t perceive anything, which meant that he most likely didn’t create new memories.

nSo, he also didn’t dream.

nThere was simply nothing to dream about.

nWhen Nick heard that, he could only sigh.

nHe wanted to help Horua.

nHorua had been in this state for a quarter of a year, and Nick knew that this wasn’t a life worth living.

nWould he wake up on his own?

nThe doctor said it was possible.

nBut what if he wouldn’t?

nShould he simply ask the Dreamer to wake Horua up?

nBut what if that caused even more pain to Horua?

nWhat if Horua would have simply woken up a week later?

nFor now, Nick decided against using the Dreamer and continued caring for Horua.

nOver the next couple of days, Nick only traveled between Horua and the warehouse.

nHe didn’t return to the Dregs to search for another Specter.

nNick had to act like they had already caught a Specter.

nFour days after the trade with the Parasite, it was time.

nDuring the late hours, Nick went into the warehouse.

nEven though the sun always shone, most people still slept during the night.

nHorua had also already gone to sleep, which meant that Nick could stay outside for around four hours before he had to check up on Horua again.

nAfter entering the warehouse, Nick waited for Wyntor, who showed up just a couple of minutes later.

nAt this moment, it was shortly after midnight.

n“You ready?” Nick asked.

nWyntor nodded. “Get the corpse,” he said before handing Nick a token.

nIt was a special token that gave Nick permission to “create and collect” one corpse in the Dregs.

nNick took the token and left the warehouse.

nDuring these hours, there were not many people on the streets, and the city felt almost dead.

nAfter some minutes, Nick entered the Dregs.

nAs soon as he arrived, he jumped on top of one building and quietly moved from rooftop to rooftop.

nNick didn’t want to be perceived while also having a good vantage point.

nHe was searching for a fitting corpse.

nFor the next couple of minutes, Nick saw a couple of groups of people walking around, but he didn’t pay them any mind.

nThey weren’t doing anything shady.

nNick also saw a couple of gatherings, but that was also quite normal.

nMany of the people of the Dregs didn’t feel safe at night, which was why some of them created small groups, and some of these people kept watch over the houses during the night.

nAfter a couple more minutes, Nick saw a small group of men covertly moving through the alleys.

nWhen he saw them, Nick paid special attention to them.

nThe way they were sneaking around was suspicious.

nBut after a bit of watching, Nick realized that they were just a small squad from the Insurance Gang.

nThe Insurance Gang regularly walked through the Dregs to advertise their services.

nThese groups often held hundreds, if not thousands, of credits in their palms, which was why they were sneaking around like this.

nWhen he found out that they were from the Insurance Gang, Nick ignored them again.

nSome minutes later, Nick saw a woman breaking into a house.

nNick didn’t care.

nThen, he saw a couple of men having sex with a woman in an alleyway.

nThe woman didn’t seem into it, but she also didn’t seem too opposed, which was why Nick also ignored that.

nFinally, 30 minutes after arriving in the Dregs, Nick found something interesting.

nThere was a tall 25-year-old woman walking through some alleyways.

nUsually, Nick wouldn’t care, but something made this very relevant to him.

nThe woman was wearing the badge of the Riker Strikers.

nWhen Nick saw her with the badge, he hesitated for a bit.

nBut in the end, he knew that someone who chose to become part of the Riker Strikers couldn’t possibly be a good person.

nSo, Nick jumped down from one of the rooftops and landed on her head with his knee.

nHer brains splattered across the streets and dirtied Nick’s clothing.

nHowever, Nick just grabbed the corpse and jumped onto one of the rooftops again.

nSome minutes later, Nick arrived in the Outer City, and when a guard looked at him, Nick simply threw the token he had received to him.

nThe guard looked at it, nodded, and followed Nick.

nWhen they arrived at the warehouse, the guard left.

nInside the warehouse, Nick and Wyntor looked at each other.

nAnd then, they nodded in understanding.

nVisit 𝓲𝓫𝙧𝙖𝙙.𝒄𝓸𝙢 for the best novel reading experience

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